Niveles de la comprensión lectora

AS the research aims to explore people’s behaviour related to reusable packaging, an SD model is created and then need set of values in order to simulate the model. An empirical study was conducted by designing a questionnaire.

4.4.1 Questionnaire formulation and structure

The survey was developed in accordance with the design principles suggested by Forza (2002). The survey was based on a 5-point Likert scale to present the degree to which the individual respondent attempted to reuse waste packaging. The scale ranged from never to very frequently. This section examines the variables that will be presented in the SD model and justifies the questionnaire items chosen to measure these variables in

6 _{Number of participants who practise reuse of packaging. This number is extracted from the}

questionnaires.

85

the survey. The survey is presented in Appendix II. The questionnaire designed based on the content from the literature review which rely on the theories. The questionnaire constructed also based on how the previous studies had measured the variables, which can increase the credibility of data as shown in the following paragraphs:

Social demographic: community residents were asked about social-demographic factors including gender, age, members in family, education level, job level, year of residence, personal norm and type of product that they reused. It assesses the representativeness of the sample by comparing the demographics of the sample with the demographics of the country. Many studies in waste management have assessed social demographics, especially recycling studies and a few looking at reuse (Vicente and Reis, 2008; Arcury et al., 1987; Reschovsky and Stone, 1994; Schultz et al., 1995; Hornik et al., 1995; Ebreo et al., 1999; Jenkins et al., 2003; Edgerton et al., 2008).

Reuse behaviour towards reuse of packaging: this section in the survey assessed the residents’ behaviour towards reuse of packaging directly by a composite method. Self- reported behaviour was used to identify people’s reuse of packaging behaviour. Respondents were asked whether they had participated in reuse of packaging activity during the previous week. Respondents were asked the type of various materials they had reused. Verdugo and Figueredo (1999) used self-reported behaviour to obtain true reuse behaviour. However, in recycling, Valle et al. (2005) and Ebreo et al. (1999) also measured recycling behaviour by using self-reported behaviour with a composite method.

Reuse attitude towards reuse of packaging: the attitude towards any waste tackling can be obtained whether individually or against behaviour in a specific manner. In recycling research, the recycling attitudes measured by the composite method (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1975; Vicente and Reis, 2008; Schwartz, 1977; Valle et al., 2005; Ebreo et al., 1999) measured recycling attitudes using a New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) (Practical Action Nepal) (VanLiere and Dunlap, 1980). The NEP was used to measure environmental concern and represented the world as consisting of a harmonious system between the environment and humanity. Also, some research used a direct measure, which considered individual judgment of performing the behaviour (Hopper and Nielsen, 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1997). In reuse studies, Mosler et al. (2008) measured reused packaging attitudes by a composite method and measured sentiment and cost-

86

value ratio. In this chapter survey, the research used a composite method and measured sentiment towards reusing packaging, whether it would be pleasant to reuse packaging, and the survey measured whether reuse of packaging adds value for participants.

Social and personal norms: social norms have been measured using a composite method in many studies, as proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975). In recycling research, Valle et al. (2005), Vicente and Reis (2008),Barr et al. (2007) and Chu and Chiu (2003) measured recycling norms by a composite method. Social norms originate from internal reference, such as parent, relative, friends and neighbours, and from external reference, such as organisation or social group. This study combined the two sources of social pressure from internal and external references. Personal norms drive the beliefs personally held with regard to how someone should behave. If the participants reused packaging, it would create a sense of satisfaction; however, if not, it would lead to a feeling of guilt. The survey measured subjective norms through 12 questions about the influence of social and personal behaviour towards reuse of packaging. The mean of these 12 questions was used as the direct measure of social and personal norms.

PBC: the definition of PBC is a result from the product of the beliefs regarding the difficulty to perform the behaviour and the controllability of the performance of that behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Mosler et al. (2008) compared waste disposal behaviour and derived specific intervention by involving perceived difficulty of recycling waste as a latent variable. Perceived convenience of packaging reuse is a vital variable that constrains PBC (Valle et al., 2005). This study measured perceived convenience by a composite of two features. The first assesses the actual availability of product packaging to be reused. The other measure indicates the satisfaction level of packaging reuse in terms of packaging condition and adequacy of information provided. The study measured PBC by using a composite method and the survey included 11 questions to find out the influence of concentrating on behaviour control to enhance packaging reuse. The mean of these 11 questions was used as the direct measure of PBC.

Perceived knowledge: perceived knowledge about waste tackling is a latent variable which reveals the individual use. In recycling, Valle et al. (2005) examined specific knowledge about the understanding of the different classes of materials and proper

87

discarding process (Barr et al., 2001a; Edgerton et al. 2008; Scott, 1999). In this study, because reuse of packaging is not commonly practised by Saudi nationals, specific knowledge about when the product’s packaging can be reused, how many times and how to get rid of packaging were examined through six questions during the survey. Communication is another vital way of conveying a message to consumers. In recycling studies, Vicente and Reis (2008) and Valle et al. (2005) examined the influence of direct media on household recycling behaviour. Television, radio and newspapers are the main mediums considered in this study. The mean of these six questions was used as the direct measure of perceived knowledge.

Perceived personal and social value: the attitudes towards a specific behaviour are relational to the sum of beliefs about the relevant attitudes and perceived consequences of performing the behaviour (Chu and Chiu, 2003). For example, someone might believe that reuse of packaging will result in less environmental pollution. If the consequence is positive, it would make someone’s attitude towards reuse of packaging more active. There are a lot of studies that have identified factors that affect attitudinal beliefs of recycling or other environmental behaviours (Hopper and Nielsen, 1991; Oskamp et al., 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1997; Vining and Ebreo, 1990). The work of Chu and Chiu (2003) divided attitudinal beliefs of recycling into two components: personal values and social values. This study about reuse of packaging also divided the attitudinal beliefs into two groups. The study measured personal values through two indicators related to personal benefits from reusing packaging such as money and affecting children’s behaviour. Social values were measured through five indicators related to: save natural resources, reduce environmental pollution, reduce social cost, reduce the load on waste management and show my participation in society. The study used measured personal and social values by a composite method of 10 questions. The mean of these 10 questions was used as the direct measure of perceived personal and social value.

General environmental concern: environmental concern is a latent variable considered in previous studies of recycling or any environmental behaviour. In recycling, Valle et al. (2005) and Ebreo et al. (1999) showed that broad attitudes towards the environment are well captured by using NEP (VanLiere and Dunlap, 1980). In this study, environmental concern was measured using a composite method through five questions where the community residents were asked about their awareness about environment

88

issues and values, whereas the awareness of consequences of packaging reuse activities was measured by a direct measure which considered only the individual’s positive or negative judgment of performance of behaviour. The mean of these five questions was used as the direct measure of general environmental concern.

4.4.2 Questionnaire process and data collection

The questionnaire was designed by the Questionnaire Designer website, which generated a link. This link is suitable for online distribution to people. The questionnaire was piloted with five participants and then refined before the questionnaire link was distributed online to a group of students as well as non-students, employees and non- employees. In addition, the questionnaire link was diffused through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter from April 2013 to May 2013. In turn, those participants were asked to forward the questionnaire link to as many people as possible. The questionnaire strategy used is the snowball sampling concept. The average time for responding should be between 8 and 10 minutes. In order to assess the presence of non- response bias, the assumption is that respondents who responded with some missing data were likely to be considered non-respondents (National Research Council, 2013). Quantitative data collected in the questionnaire was to be used in the development of the SD model. The author noted that 300 participants attempted the questionnaire. Of these, 101 were completed and the others rejected owing to being uncompleted. The response rate was 33.67%.